


From the Ground Up

by veryvirginvirgil (Box_tales)



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Threats, Yelling, blood there as well, casual imprisonment, death in the first chapter only, from the ground up au, generally no knowing what the fuck a house is, its supposed to be hella vauge, lemme know if i need more tags, minor abuse in chapter five, nature spirit?, virgil gets dug up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2019-10-18 00:57:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17571254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Box_tales/pseuds/veryvirginvirgil
Summary: Virgil is a spirit, an entity who remembers nothing before the earth. He has been unearthed four times. This is the story of those instances.This story is cross posted from tumblr.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is like a prologue, but it’s important to the story. Virgil is a spirt that can be summoned by digging. These are the times he’s been unearthed.

He remembers the first favorably.

The first to dig up the earth and grasp his hand. He remembers being hualed up from the dirt by the small man, shorter by far than he. The man was amazed by him, and he remembers the man’s hands where as dark as the dirt covering them, and he remembers that they looked by far darker than his own.

The man told him his name was Pat. Pat said that it he was named after a creature found in the rivers and lakes. He told Pat that he could call him Vir. Pat was overjoyed to know he had a name.

Pat took him to his home, not far at all from where he dug up Vir. Over the course of many moons Pat taught him his ways. Vir made food and helped in the garden, he spoke and was spoken to like a friend. Vir liked the smear under Pat’s eye that later(much later, so, so much later) he’d be able to call a heart. Pat kept him in the little house. Vir would bump his head but understood that his friend was doing it to keep him safe.

When another from Pat’s tribe wandered into the house they demanded Pat get rid of him. With sad eyes and dragging feet Pat walked him to where he was dug up. He told him to stay.

Vir asked if he would come back. Pat told him he never would. The night passed, and Vir sat. As the sun rose Vir closed his eyes just to open them to the sky. He wan no longer in the body. He was in the earth again looking at the sky and watching the woods, feeling the grass grow, and the trees streach. The sun rose. It set.

The moon had become full three times before Pat broke his promise. He dug and dug until Vir could feel the wind on the roots of his trees. Vir did not return. Pat dug and dug until he was old and could no longer. Vir saw them dig for Pat. When the dirt covered him completely he could feel Pat becoming dirt.

This was the first.

The second and the third where both brief.

The second was a man lighter than the first. On his hand was a black crown and he brought with him a bag. As he pulled Vir from the earth he screamed and flead. Vir remained. He was calm, and looked in the bag to find a woman. She was unmoving and he knew she’d become dirt. He moved her into the hole the man had dug and covered her in the soil. He put a handfull of acorns on top of her. Whoever she was and whoever she was, she deserved this much at least. When the sun rose he was in the earth again, and this time he felt the woman’s death becoming a tree’s life.

Time passed and people came through. Men with dogs and lanterns that found the sapling and took it from the earth. Vir thought it was rude of them to take the woman’s new life away and instead dig up the remains of her old one. They lugged her off somewhere, and kept digging. Eventually a man found him. He looked similar to the others but on his neck was a cartoonish brain, the same brown as the earth. He said nothing as Vir blinked up at him, but pulled out a weapon and shot Vir in the chest. As the man walked away Vir was in the earth again feeling the blood of his body seep into the dirt. In the morning the body was gone. The man returned and built a wire fence.

The man didn’t dig for him but instead watched over, as if he was fearful of Vir’s return. Eventually he brought with him a child. He told the boy of Vir and made him promise to never dig. The boy became a man as the man became old. The new man brought a new child and told her the same thing. She later brought three small boys who she told the story to. They didn’t make the promise to her. Years later the boys returned, now young men.

They became the fourth.      


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And it continues. Three men seem just a bit two familiar. Actual dialogue occurs.

They where digging. They had small shovels and saplings and packets. Vir thought they where most likely where planting like Pat used to. One of them had the same mark as Pat, but it was closer to his ear and on the other side of his face. He couldn’t see any marks on the others. Two of them had on their faces framed with glass pieces in them, and the other did not. They all wore similar clothing, blue bottoms and separate tops with nothing covering their arms. One of the people with framed on their face wore a darker blue wile the other wore a lighter blue. The one without framed wore a white top with red splashed on it. It was the one without frames who dug above him, and uncovered his hand.

He screamed. The man with Pat’s heart came over and quickly started digging him up.

“Oh my god! A body!” The man screamed again.

“Patton! Why are you digging it up?” The Dark blue wearing man asked. Patton, with frames and wearing light blue, kept digging until Vir was free enough to sit up. So he did.

“OH MY GOD!” the man in red yelled again. Vir blinked before stretching and kicking his legs up to free them if the thin layer of dirt above them.

“Hi?” Patton said after Vir stretched. Vir pooped his jaw before yawning.

“Hello.” He replied. Flexing his fingers and toes, trying to get used to being a body again.

“Put that away, Logan!” Patton said. Vir turned around to see a weapon similar to the other man’s in his hand, aimed at him. He felt his heart beat quicken, but he knew that if he was to badly injured he’d be in the ground again.

“No Patton, it came out of the ground like that creature mom told us about.” He said. The weapon clicked.

“Shoot it!” The man, not Logan nor Patton yelled.

“Please refrain, it hurt last time.” Vir said.

“Logan! We aren’t going to shoot him!” Patton said before launching himself on top of Vir.

“It’ll kill you!” Logan screamed, adjusting his grip.

“What are you talking about?” Vir said, hidden underneath Patton.

“It killed that woman, remember? That’s what mom said!” Logan yelled, gripping the weapon tightly.

“I haven’t hurt anything!” Vir yelled back.

“A likely story!” Logan said.

“It’s as likely as digging a live man out of the ground!” Patton yelled. There was a beat of silence before Logan put the weapon away. “Thanks, Logan.” Patton said getting off of Vir.

“Thank you, Patton” Vir said. The three men froze.

“H-How do you know my name?” Patton asked paling. Logan was reaching into his pocket again.

“Logan yelled it?” Vir said. There was a sigh of relief from the three, but Vir knew that Logan was still prepared to hurt him if necessary.

“Well, I think proper introductions are in order. My name is Patton, that’s Logan, and over there is Roman.” Patton said, pointing at Logan and Roman respectively.

“Nice to meet you, Patton, Logan, and Roman.” Vir replied.

“A-and you are?” Roman asked, still looking a bit panicked. Vir thought for a moment.

“Virgil is close to what I refer to myself as. A more accurate pronunciation is difficult to achieve in this form,” He said. The three glanced at each other.

“Well, Virgil, it’s good to meet you. Would you like to come to our house to wash up?” Patton asked. Roman glanced up nervously.

“Don’t invite that thing to our home.” Logan said.

“I don’t have to come…” Virgil said, glancing at Roman. Who seemed to appreciate the offer, but still appeared troubled.

“But you will, because it’s the nice thing to do. We were told not to dig here. We did and now we got you which makes you our responsibility.” Patton stated, standing up and putting his hands on his hips glancing around to make sure no one was arguing with him. The others hesitated.

“I mean… I suppose that does make sense,” Logan conceded. “But it may still be dangerous. I don’t trust it at all,” he warned, glaring at Virgil.

“As long as what came out of the ground has no intention to put me in the ground, I’m game,” Roman said. He took a breath, and calmed down a little before continuing. “Well! I think the gardening can wait till tomorrow, let’s get home,” he said turning around and marching forward. Patton followed behind quickly, while Logan lingered behind with Virgil. Virgil glanced at him before getting up and walking a small distance behind them. Smoothing down the clothing that his new body was wearing and ruffling some of the dirt from his hair before pulling the back flap of his topmost layer of clothes over his head.

He could feel Logan glaring down his back, and focused intently on following Patton. He relished in the feeling of the grass beneath his feet and the warm and pleasant dampness of the air. How easy it was to forget how the body interpreted these things when he spent an eternity feeling them through the dirt, plants, and animals. He was reminded of the way it was with Pat. How every day seemed to breathe a fresh air and the world was experienced, no longer observed.

Virgil had no idea what to expect of these three, but it was a golden opportunity to experience the world another time.


	3. Chapter 3

They kept walking for a few minutes before coming up to a huge structure. It was a cream color with soft brown accents. The roof of it was brown and the window where taller than Virgil himself. Virgil wondered if their entire village lived there.

“Home sweet home!” Patton yelled out, running up to the door.

“It’s a bit of a mess, sorry,” Roman said, falling in steep next to Virgil as Patton fumbled with the door. He opened it quickly and Virgil could already smell the mess. He held his breathe while he walked past what was obviously a waste container, but the interior honestly baffled him. Pat’s house was earthy and simple, he understood it easily but nothing here made any sense. Why was there a huge box that was purring? Why did they hang tiny spheres of lighting above themselves? Why was is so large?

He did his best to ignore the overall strangeness of the place, but he was utterly confused. Somethings he could recognize, a bowl of what Virgil guessed to be various fruits, a rug, among others. He was unfamiliar with almost everything within the building.

“Uh…” Was all he could think to say.

“It’s a bit much to take in, I know! I’ll give you the grand tour after a bath,” Patton said, grabbing his hand and pulling him in the direction of a corridor.

“Alright?” Virgil replied. Did they have a river in their house? Patton dragged him into a large, mostly white room with Logan close behind.

“Here we are! The blue bottles the shampoo, the green is conditioner. If you just leave your clothes on the counter I’ll put them through the wash and bring you some new ones. I’ll leave you too it!” Patton said cheerily, turning to go. Virgil grabbed his arm quickly, stopping him from going. Logan glared and looked ready for a fight.

“Patton, I- um…” Virgil looked at the ground before gathering up the courage to get over his embarrassment. “The last time… I bathed it was in a river. I’m a bit- a bit unfamiliar with this method.” He stammered out. He remembered being embarrassed only a few times with Pat, but he still hated the feeling.

“Oh… Alright. That’s ok. Now the first thing you do is…” Patton explained quickly, giving him the general process of how a bath went, explaining the purpose of all the soaps, and showing him where the towels where for when he was done. “I’ll clean your clothes if you leave them on the counter, if you need any help let me know. I’ll be back in a few minutes for the clothes, alright?”

“Yeah, thank you,” Virgil replied. He watched them go, Logan sending a glare over his shoulder as he left. Once the door was shut he started messing with his clothes, unfamiliar with how they functioned. He managed to get undressed, placing his clothes on the counter. Then he turned on the faucet and began the “shower part” of the bath process, so he could relax in the tub without soaking in his own filth. He washed out his hair and scrubbed himself down, watching the mud and dirt drift down the drain.

When he was clean he plugged the drain, added some “bubble bath” and let himself relax a little in the warm water. He sunk down until his head was floating on the surface, listening to the magnified sounds of the house through the water. He relaxed, closing his eyes for just a bit. He didn’t sleep, but instead reviewed all of the information he gained in such a short period of time.

After he felt he spent enough time to get his thoughts in order he rinsed off and drained the tub. He dried off, and inspected the clothes that Patton had left for him. There was a top and a bottom, and a very short bottom that Virgil realized was. Bottom layer because of the clothes that his body had initially. He didn’t understand why so many layers where needed in the summer, Pat only had one layer most of the time anyway. He did acknowledge that the bottom layer was by far more comfy than the top layer would have been so he kept them on. He had a pair of blue bottoms similar to the others, and he received a plain black top.

Once he was both dressed and dried he opened the door to an empty hallway. He froze. Where was he? Where was Patton? He took a moment to breathe before trying to get back to the room he entered from initially. He followed the corridor, turning and trying to navigate back. Somehow he managed, and returned to find Roman with an object in one hand and a fruit in another.

“Hello, Roman,” Virgil said. Roman glanced up before taking a bite of his fruit and finishing it quickly.

“Hello, Virgil,” he replied, taking the remains of the fruit and throwing it in the waste bin. He came back and sat down in the furniture he was in. “Why don’t you pull up a chair and sit by the table with me? I’m just reading my book, and we can wait here until Patton returns form the laundry room,” Virgil did his best to mirror what Roman was doing, sitting on a “chair” by the “table”. He felt awkward as he didn’t have a “book” so he sat without purpose.

“What is your book about?” Virgil asked after a few minutes.

“It’s a retelling of sleeping beauty,” he said, slipping a thin strip of something into the book and closing it.

“Sleeping beauty? Sounds cool,” Virgil said. Roman frowned a bit.

“There’s no need to act patronizing,” Roman said, putting the book down and closing it.

“I didn’t mean to it honestly does sound cool, what’s sleeping beauty about?”

“You just sound so disinterested, if you don’t want to hear-” 

“I do! I’m just… It has been a very long time since I spoke to anyone, and the language was different then so if I seem dishonest or flat it isn’t that you aren’t interesting it’s just that this is probably the longest I’ve spoken in over 3,000 moons and it a bit difficult to readjust is all,” Virgil ranted quickly. He felt so embarrassed, and curled up on himself, looking anywhere but Roman. The kitchen was shrouded in silence. Roman opened his mouth to respond, but was cut short when Patton came running in.

“Virgil! Sorry about the delay I had to put your stuff in the dryer, let’s go! I’ll show you the house,” he said smiling. Just like that Virgil was whisked away into the convoluted innards of the house.


	4. Chapter 4

Patton dragged him to the middle of the house first of all. As they passed by Logan on the way he followed them, at a distance.

“Ok! This is the front door, I wanted to start at the front and then work our way back. We’ve got two wings, to the east and west. Left and right, right and left. I can’t remember which is which half the time. So we’re gonna go right from the front door, and that leads to the parlor, we normally don’t use it all that much,” Patton began, walking into the parlor. Virgil followed behind, looking at everything. The furniture looked nice, very fancy, it was mostly a cream color with golden accents.

“Right across the hall is a bath room, and next to that is a closet,” Patton said, opening the doors to show off the rooms. The bathroom here was larger than the one he had been in before, and was mainly gold while the other was mainly white.

“As we continue down the main corridor left of the main entrance, to the…east? East. We come to Logan’s room and what will be your room. We’ll look yours at the end,” Patton said walking past the two doors. Virgil glanced back to see Logan coming out of the parlor and immediately into the closet.

“Here’s the library! And across the hall’s the study,” Patton pulled Virgil into the library, an entire room filled with different colors and sizes of books, shelves piled to the ceiling and surrounding the large half circle windows at the end of the room. Its main color was a deep blue, with golden accents throughout. Virgil noted that the carvings of all the furniture matched. The study, directly across the hall, was very similar to the library save, that it didn’t have any windows, and was mostly brown. It had a few more tables as well.

“It all looks very nice,” Virgil said. Patton looked a bit sad for a second before smiling brightly and motioning him out.

“So those doors right there lead out, but this one in the corner leads to the tower!” Patton practically bounced his way to the door, Virgil followed a bit hesitant. He hallway went past the study, and was fairly empty, but we’ll kept. The first level of the tower was a spa and bath package, with what Patton referred to as a hot tub in the middle. The next level had a guest room and the very top was filled with boxes.

“We just use up here for storage now, it used to be a play room, but there’s no kids here so…” Patton said.

“Why have the kids go up so many stairs?” Virgil asked.

“I don’t know, but the towers fun and as a kid I loved getting to the top.” He said, walking down the tower.

“Why are the stairs on only one half of the tower?”

“That’s just the way they made it I suppose,”

“Is there more space above the third level?”

“I don’t know, you don’t have to pretend to be interested you know,” Patton said, his voice was almost harsh, and he sounded like he was reigning himself in.

They marched out the tower in silence. Virgil was sad, had he really lost that much emotion? Or was he ever as emotive as he thought? He was disappointed that he couldn’t learn more without sounding like he was only asking for their sake. He really did want to know!

Logan was watching them over a book as he sat in the library. As they walked towards the main entrance he could hear Logan walking behind them and moving into the parlor.

“Alright as we go up the stairs we get an overview of the entry, down the hall to the right is Roman’s room. Behind us, across for the entryway is a balcony, and to the left is mom’s room to side closest to the main entrance, and two guest rooms opposite that,” Patton rushed through. He walked down the stairs. Virgil following.

“We’ll get to the room in the middle of the mansion in just a sec, here’s the bathroom you where in earlier, and right next to it is my room. Across the hall here is the family room and a little storage room,” Patton said, opening the family room. It was filled with all sorts of things, mismatch furnishings, a large black rectangle, many boxes, and what looked like more books. It was slightly overwhelming. Logan was there, with the book again. This time Virgil noticed that the book was upside-down, the picture of the tree being a dead giveaway.

“Now on down this way, right next to the family room and across from the kitchen is dining room, next to my room is the kitchen. We normally just eat in the kitchen,” he said.

“Why?” Virgil asked.

“The dining room’s huge and feels empty. Any way, we have these stairs in the kitchen leading down to the basement, which opens up into the cellar. The laundry room and utility room are just down the hall and we have some more rooms around the corner but we don’t really use them for anything,” Patton said.

“Why not?” Virgil asked as Patton began up the stairs again.

“They’re creepy! Anyway back to the main entrance!” He yelled back. Virgil followed, waving at Roman who still sat in the kitchen with his book. Roman waved back, before continuing with it.

“And here we reach the ball room!” Patton said, throwing open the doors across from the main entrance. The room was huge, red tile flooring trimmed with gold and large windows, the middle ones leading out into a patio. There was a stage against the left wall with large red curtains framing it.

“Woah,” Virgil said.

“It’s a bit of a sight, yeah. Anyway, you think you can get back to your room? I’ll come get you when dinner is ready, ok?”

“Yeah sure,” Virgil replied, still looking around the ball room. Patton walked away, and Virgil stood there for a minute more. He quietly closed the doors and walked down the hall to his room. He could hear the steps and breathing of Logan behind him, but he didn’t wanna bother with him. He felt sad, and a little abandoned that Patton left him to his room, even though he said they’d come back to it.

He opened the door and walked into his room. It had a wooden floor and pale golden walls with a few dull paintings. His eyes where drawn to the window, it framed perfectly the forest behind and a smaller garden that was only a few feet from his room. The bed was a darker brown, with stripped sheets, and was pushed against the wall, below the window. Against the left wall was large brown box, that was taller than Virgil. He pulled on the doors of it and found two pieces of clothing hung up. There where some drawers below that had different kinds of clothes, so he decided the entire thing was a closet because the closet had clothes to. There was a shelf with a few books on the opposite side of the room and mirror next to it.

There was also a brown fuzzy rug on the floor, leading up to the bed. He sat on the bed, which he noted was very fluffy. He inspected the bed a bit more and noticed that there where two tables on they sides of it. Both had drawers, and one had a fixture similar to the ones he’d seen throughout the house. It had a switch on it, small and metal. Patton had flicked a couple of them to summon light in the various rooms on the tour.

He flopped onto his front, his chin on arm looking at the fixture. It was mostly metal, and looked inflexible. It had a fake gold over it save for the black switch. He put his hand over it, glancing over it one more time before flipping the switch. The large glass bulb of it filled with lightning and he stared at it. He flipped the switch again and the lightning disappeared. He noticed a small piece of metal inside of the glass, and flipped the switch again watching it. He noticed that the lightning started at the metal and continued through the air. The metal made sense, when lightning struck the ground he felt the metal help it travel farther, and the lightning had to get through the air first. What he couldn’t figure out was where the lightning had come from. It wasn’t raining, the sky was clear. He put his fingers on the glass, trying to think of where it was coming from.

“Virgil?” Patton asked from the doorway. Virgil jumped, turning off the light. He was so embarrassed he couldn’t look up. “Dinner’s ready, you want to come eat?”

“Yes, thank you,” he said, standing.

“Alrighty kiddo, let’s go.” Patton said, leading the way to the kitchen.

Virgil followed.


	5. Chapter5

Dinner was set on the table, and Patton sat first. Virgil did his best to mimic the way he acted, but felt very awkward about it.

“A delicious, healthy array you’ve prepared. Thank you, Patton,” Logan said, as they sat.

“Thanks, padre,” Roman said, grabbing a small piece of food from a basket in the top.

“Thank you for the meal, Patton,” Virgil said, trying to follow their social queues.

“Let’s dig in! We’ve got fish, potatoes, cream corn, rolls, and pasta!” Patton said, cheerily. Virgil could recognize the fish and corn, both being things that Pat had cooked. Though they did look different from the way they did long ago. He watched the others spoon food onto the plates and eat using the silver tools. He mimicked them to the best of his ability. He was surprised by how good and diverse the flavour was.

“These mashed potatoes are simply divine, Patton!” Roman said, brandishing his tool, almost flinging the white substance of “potato” off of it.

“The fork and food go in your mouth or on your plate, Roman,” Logan said.

“Thanks, Roman! I thought they’d be… apeeling,” Patton said. Roman laughed and Logan groaned before everyone kept digging in. That helped Virgil start putting names to food. The rolls were most likely the small round pieces of bread, almost self-explanatory. The pasta had to be the long strands of something, covered in a light sauce that spread on his plate and into the cream corn. But Virgil still preferred the fish the most. It was different, salty and heavier than he remembered. But it tasted faintly of the times he shared with Pat.

“What do you like best, Virgil?” Patton asked.

“The fish,” Virgil replied. Logan gave him a strange look and Roman glanced up for a second before digging in.

“That’s good to hear! Fish is always a challenge to make, and these two don’t appreciate it one bit!” Patton playfully replied.

“I don’t like fish!” Roman said.

“I prefer salmon to tilapia,” Logan said. “I love your cooking Pat, but I still have preferences.”

“It’s different from the fish I had before, but it is very tasty,” Virgil said, attempting a smile.

“I’m glad! Maybe we’ll have fish more often then!” Patton beamed, Virgil could feel waves of happiness pouring off of him.

“Can we have salmon next time? I would appreciate that,” Logan said.

“Of course!” Patton responded.

“I suppose that anything you make will be enjoyable, Patton,” Roman said, pouring more potatoes on his plate.

“Thanks!” Patton said. Virgil could feel Patton’s happiness and he continued the conversation. He kept a slight smile on his face throughout the meal. As they finished up he watched them walk one by one to a basin and flip the handle, rinsing their plates. He copied them and dried his hands on the pants he was given.

“Thanks for putting your plate and silverware in the sink, kiddo!” Patton said, walking past and lightly patting his shoulder. He smiled and nodded in response.

“Virgil, come with me!” Roman said.

“Alright?” Virgil said.

“What do you plan on doing with it?” Logan asked, glaring suspiciously.

“A Disney Marathon! We shall watch all of their timeless works!” Roman said, grabbing a wooden spoon from a jar on the counter, brandishing it in the air, and putting his foot on a chair.

“Sounds lovely, kiddo! I’ll finish up washing the dishes while you get set up,” Patton said. Roman, throwing the spoon back on the counter, grabbed Virgil’s arm and drug him to the door.

“Pop some corn, nerd!” Roman said, right before they left. Roman took him to the family room and pushed him onto a large black piece of furniture.

“You stay right there on the couch. Now, let me see,” Roman said, messing with all sorts of boxes, and pulling out tons of things that looked like books on the shelf but weren’t.

“What are you doing?” Virgil said. Roman paused and held up an object, with a drawing of a cat on it.

“This is a VHS container, and inside is a VHS. I put it in the VHS player and it plays the movie on the TV,” Roman said.

“Can I… Come watch?” Virgil asked. Roman paused for a moment.

“You said you’d been in the ground for what? 3,000 moons? I don’t think there was much of anything around back then. I’m afraid you’re not well versed in what much of anything around here is right?” Virgil nodded. “Come here, I’ll show you everything and explain the best I can. Logan could probably explain it all even better, but he’s not really sure about you yet. You want me to tell Patton? He’d make more of an effort to tell you about the stuff around the house if he knew,” Roman said, as Virgil carefully walked over. Virgil nodded, something he was practicing as he saw them use it to signify agreement. Roman ran through what he was doing and how things were color coded. Eventually, Virgil had an understanding that all “electronics” used controlled lightning, called “electricity” and how they sent information to each other through metal. He worked hard to show interest, in a similar way Patton had when he asked Virgil about dinner.

Virgil had so many questions, and Roman did his best to answer them. He still hadn’t run out by the time Logan arrived, with a very large bowl, but after a few minutes of being glared at every time he opened his mouth, he stopped. Roman sat on the couch next to Logan, and Virgil sat on a chair next to the couch. As Patton walked in and sat on the couch, Roman picked up the remote and began the movie.

“What movies are part of our marathon this evening?” Logan asked.

“All of them. All the Disney movies. It will take us many a day, but we will watch them all!” Roman replied, before fast forwarding through some of the tapes.

“Why?” Logan asked

“Virgil has never seen Disney!”

“Who hasn’t seen, Disney?”

“What’s a Disney?” Virgil asked.

“The large group of artists who make these wonderful movies!” Roman said, before beginning the movie. It began with some narration about a girl named Snow White. Virgil engrossed himself in the movie. That’s how the evening progressed, with movie after movie. Some movies didn’t begin with narration but instead began with pictures on the screen accompanied by strange symbols that blurred and changed into each other when Virgil looked at them. He didn’t understand them, and they gave him a headache. Otherwise, the movies were fantastic and very easy to understand.

At one point, deep in the night, the three of them had fallen asleep. He wasn’t quite sure what to do, but it was rather dark outside, and figured they should probably be in bed because that’s where Pat liked to be when it was dark. He rewound the tapes and turned off all the electronics like Roman taught him to before looking at the three of them. Patton laid on top of Roman, who was on Logan in turn. Virgil picked up Patton, an arm under his legs and his back, quietly putting him in his room and on his bed, covering him with blankets as he did so. Patton's room was filled with light blues, golds, and lots of things that seemed old. He the same for Roman, noting that his room was filled with reds, posters of characters from some of the movies they’d watched, and an entire section of it was filled with shiny metal things that he wasn’t quite sure what they where. When he went to get Logan the man was already awake, glaring at him.

“What have you done with them?!” He practically yelled.

“I put them in their roo- Ow!” Virgil said as Logan shoved him down, grabbing his hair. His hands shot up and grabbed at Logan’s. “Let go!” Logan dragged him to his room before pushing Virgil in and shutting the door. Virgil could hear a faint click, as Logan walked away. Virgil tried to open the door, but found it more difficult than usual. Giving up he sat on his bed, staring out the window.

It wasn’t until well after the sun had risen that he heard a click at the door again.


	6. Chapter 6

Virgil scrambled up and tries the door. It opened this time, and he felt a sense of relief flood through him as he peeked into the hall. He saw what was either Logan or Patton walking away, it was hard to tell from behind. Virgil shut the door as silently as he could, following behind. The man walked into the kitchen.

Virgil followed to see Roman sitting at the table with a cup in hand and Patton cooking. Logan sat down next to Roman. Virgil remained silent but walked over to where Patton was.

“Are you making breakfast?” Virgil asked. Patton jumped a little before laughing and nodding. “Want any help?” Patton pauses for a moment.

“That bowl of pancake batter over there needs mixing, I was just heating up the pan and working on the bacon.” He said, turning back to his pans. Virgil walked over to the bowl, grabbing a wooden spoon from the jar on the counter. He mixed it in, not quite sure what the individual parts were, but content in the knowledge that together they would make “pancake batter”. He looked up to see Logan glaring at him, he looked back down at his work.

“Thanks for mixing Virgil, you can go get dressed now. Breakfast will be up in a few minutes,” Patton said, grabbing the bowl and pouring the batter into the pan. Virgil walked back to his room, careful to keep the door open. He still didn’t have his original clothes that the body came in, but the closet had two topmost layers, one was back and the other red.

He took out the black one, placing in on his bed. He opened up the drawer to the tops, seeing three long sleeved and two short sleeved tops. He pulled out the grey short sleeved top, abandoning the yellow one. The bottoms where all various shades of blue, except two that were black and grey. He pulled out the black bottom, before grabbing an undergarment, which was all white. There were some garments that where foot shaped that he abandoned altogether. He changed quickly before getting back to the kitchen.

“I’m telling you that we need to head to town anyway!” Patton said, talking to the other two.

“I think we ought to finish the marathon! Come on, P!” Roman said, leaning dangerously far back in his chair. He had one hand held onto the table for support, and the other gesturing wildly in an attempt to support his point.

“Stop leaning, Roman. I told you two that if we started a garden we’d have to finish it an maintain it.” Logan said. Virgil walked around to behind Roman. Fairly certain that him falling back wouldn’t be beneficial.

“Let’s ask Virgil, what do you think we should do?” Patton said, turning towards him.

“What are the options?” Virgil asked.

“Patton wants to go shopping to get you some clothes and more food,” Roman said throwing his hand towards him and then at Logan. “Logan wants to finish the garden, and I-” Roman let go of the table to place both hands on his chest. Virgil quickly caught the back of the chair to stop it from falling. He paused a moment, blinking, before he sat up and stopped leaning back in the chair with a sheepish smile. “Well I wanted to finish the marathon and none of us can agree on what to do first.”

“Well, the shopping can probably wait a day, I’ve got enough clothes and from what I gather we do still have enough food for it to wait. The garden would do well to be planted today, and after we finish up on that we can continue with the Disney.” He said, letting go of Roman’s chair to sit in another next to it. Logan eyed him silently.

“Why the garden? It’s just as good today as tomorrow.” Patton said, bringing over some plates covered in foods to the table.

“All your plants are in little boxes, they have tight roots so they can’t eat the soil. The sooner they are free the more fruitful they will be.” Virgil replied, before thanking Patton for the food and pulling some of the breakfast on to his plate. Through the conversation of the meal, he learned that the bacon was the meat, the eggs where the yellow bits of fluff, and the pancakes where the breadlike rounds. The orange juice was delightfully self-explanatory.

After breakfast, they all went out and began planting. Virgil did his best to help, as gardening was something he’d done before it wasn’t very difficult. He knew the soil and suggested where each plant would do best. He wasn’t very familiar with all the plants, but he knew the soil and where it was richest.

“Are you sure we won’t dig up anything else? I don’t want more house guests to deal with,” Logan asked at one point.

“Unless you plan on collecting worms, you’ll be fine,” was Virgil’s reply.

It took a while, and. By the end, all of them were sweaty and dirty, but the garden was complete. It was beautiful, the lush wildflowers complemented the new plants and crawling plant’s where placed close to trees, as to one day grow up them.

As Roman finished the last plant he grinned at the others.

“It’s so beautiful guys!” He said.

“I concur,” Logan replied.

“All thanks to Virgil, helping us out!” Patton said, patting his back. Virgil grinned in response. The others glanced at each other before nodding.

“I’m sick of dirt, let’s go wash up,” Roman said, leading the way back to the house. Patton and Virgil chatted more about the garden, both of them think about how to get it watered properly. Roman and Patton both went to take showers first, leaving Virgil alone with Logan.

Virgil studied the bowl of fruits on the counter intently, a dense feeling of awkwardness and worry enveloping him. He didn’t particularly want to be alone with Logan, concerned that he’d trap him in his room again. Virgil could feel his eyes bearing into him, an intense and angry stare that chilled him.

“I don’t know what you want with my family, but if you hurt them I will end you,” Logan said, crossing his arms over his chest. Virgil continued to stare at the bowl in silence, not wanting to bother with a fight. They continued to wait in silence. When Patton walked in freshly dressed and only slightly damp Virgil dated look away from the fruit.

“Alright Virgil, you can use my bathroom while Logan uses the one closest to you guys. I already put your clothes from yesterday in there, so you’ll be good. Just put your dirty clothes in the basket and wash up,” Patton said, smiling.

“Thank you,” he said, leaving the room quickly. He took his shower quickly, eager to get back into his original clothes. The monochromatic outfit wasn’t bad, but he preferred his patchy purple jacket instead. It was softer, and smelled like his woods, with a hint of something Virgil couldn’t identify. He wandered back to the kitchen, seeing Roman and Patton chatting. As he walked in Roman caught his eye and smiled. Patton turned and saw Virgil come in.

“Hey, Virgil!” Patton said.

“Hello,” Virgil said, sitting at the table.

“So, we were talking…” Roman said.

“And we were wondering,” Patton said, sitting down across from Virgil.

“If you’ve ever been shopping before,” Roman leaned onto the table.

“Or out in public in general?” Patton smiled.

“Umm… No? I don’t think so?” Virgil replied. The way they asked mad him nervous.

“Well, it’s time to learn!” Patton said.

“Disney can wait, we must explain the entirety of society to you!” Roman said.

“Alright?” Virgil said. The two then proceed to talk about society. Things like saying please and thank you and bless you at the proper times. What somethings are called, and connotations around certain words. It was a dizzying whirlwind of information.

“What’s all this?” Logan asked, eyeing Virgil suspiciously.

“Just going over some stuff,” Roman said, pulling out what was earlier referred to as a “phone”.

“I think now’s a wonderful time for a break. I need to check on my lasagna. Roman try not to overwhelm him. Logan, would you be a dear and peel those cucumbers on the counter? You know how Roman hates the skin of those in the salads!” Patton said, already rushing about the kitchen.

Roman sat back, fiddling with his phone. While Patton and Logan worked Virgil sat back. His head was swimming with all the knowledge he’d learned. For once he was grateful for Logan’s bluntness, as it gave him time to process.

If this was the basics, he didn’t know how he’d handle the shopping trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for enjoying my story! If you'd like to read chapters a week in advance, please consider joining my patreon! The seventh chapter will be available soon ;)
> 
> https://www.patreon.com/veryvirginvirgil


	7. Chapter 7

Dinner was delicious as it was the previous day. The lasagna was amazing, cheesy layers on-top of pasta that absolutely melted on the mouth. Patton and Roman called it a night, as everyone was fairly tired from the eventful day of gardening. Logan hovered about until Virgil walked into his room. He heard the click at the door again, signaling that the only way out of the room was from the window.

He spent the night investigating the room. The fluffy bed was barren underneath, but it was tall enough that he could hide underneath the bed with room to spare, completely obscured by the fabric overflowing from the bed. He investigated the drawers, they weren’t very interesting so he moved onto the bookshelf. There were a few books, the covers mostly solid colours. The symbols on them seemed to shift and waiver before his very eyes. He was confused, how did people gather meaning from these, when they changed constantly. The longer he stared the more his head hurt. He stopped, not wanting to continue hurting his head. Instead, he watched the woods, and the headache dissipated a little by the time the sun rose.

He changed his clothes, ending up with the blue sweat pants and a yellow shirt, keeping on the jacket. The door clicked, so he left and went to the kitchen. Logan was there, sipping a dark brown almost black drink from a mug.

“Hi Virgil!” Said Patton, flipping an egg.

“Salutations,” Logan said.

“Hey guys,” Virgil said, sinking into a chair. He glanced at the book in Logan’s hand, the symbols on the side changing. He looked away from it before it could hurt his eyes.

“Are you excited to go shopping?” Patton asked.

“I mean sure, it sounds like fun,” he said.

“It sure will be!” Patton smiled. Virgil tried to smile back, but it was rather shaky. He had no idea what to expect. What would happen when they were there? They had explained so much, but would he be able to remember it when the time came?

They had french toast for breakfast with syrup. In addition to that, they had bacon and orange juice as well. 

After breakfast, they headed out to the car. It was gray and very shiny. Logan got into the seat that Roman referred to as the driver’s seat and Patton in the front passenger’s. Roman and Virgil were in the back, and “buckled up” which was a bit more uncomfortable than he had anticipated. The seat belt bit into the skin of his neck and was hard to ignore after a while.

Roman was as good a distraction as any, regaling him with stories about being a kid and driving around with their mother. He talked briefly of the town they passed through, a place called Pagan Springs, but raised more questions than answers. After a while, they arrived at a large building, a “mall”. The mall was huge, made of stone and glass, with colours and pictures everywhere, writing was crammed almost everywhere, and the strange symbols danced dizzyingly. So he was a little overwhelmed. 

It turned out that shopping itself wasn’t nearly as stressful as he thought it could be. He actually rather liked the simplicity of the racks, most of the stores had specific colors for different sizes of clothes, and once he tried some on he was able to easily figure out what would fit him that way. The signs and their symbols still gave him headaches but the process got easier as time moved on. 

Roman and Patton seemed to love helping him with it, and Logan still seemed very disgruntled about the process. His style seemed to be lots of black and purple, and they found various shops that had clothes that Virgil loved. 

He left with armfuls of various types of clothes and accessories, along with a feeling of accomplishment for conquering the cloth jungle. At the end of the day, they brought all of his clothes to the car, putting the bags in the trunk. On their way back they passed through the buildings again. 

“Why does this place feel… so empty?” Virgil asked

“The town? Pagan springs was a tourist trap a while ago.” Patton started

“And by a while ago he means like… twenty years,”

“Thanks, Ro, yeah. They had hot water springs all around here. But eventually, the springs dried up because people didn’t take care of them. When they dried up the tourists did too. The town started dying off and people moved out. There’s only a handful of folks left.”

Virgil hummed while looking at the town. The air seemed to buzz with hopelessness. 

He hoped that wasn’t indicative of what was to come.


End file.
